DENVER – Hawai‘i’s Vander Joaquim has been named the Verizon Western Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Week for the week of Dec. 12-18. The honor marks the first career WAC Player of the Week award for Joaquim.
Joaquim, a center forward from Luanda, Angola (Eastern Utah CC), led Hawai‘i to a 2-0 record last week with wins over Hawaii-Hilo and North Carolina A&T. In the 79-66 victory over Hawaii-Hilo, Joaquim recorded his second straight double-double of the season with 19 points and a career-high 17 rebounds. He scored 14 of his 19 points in the second half to help UH turn a two-point halftime deficit into a double-digit win. He also posted 16 points, seven rebounds and two blocks in a 65-57 win over North Carolina A&T as UH won its third straight game.
On the week, Joaquim averaged 17.7 points, 12.0 rebounds, 2.0 blocks and 1.0 assists per game. He shot 65.0 percent (13-of-20) from the field and 90.0 percent (9-of-10) from the free throw line.
Other nominees included: Fresno State sophomore forward Jerry Brown … Idaho senior guard Landon Tatum … Louisiana Tech freshman guard Raheem Appleby … Nevada senior forward Olek Czyz … New Mexico State senior guard Hernst Laroche … Utah State sophomore guard Preston Medlin.